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The state Senate and Assembly both voted on Thursday to impanel special committees to probe how three lanes of the George Washington Bridge were ordered closed for four days in September. Brian Thompson reports. (Published Thursday, Jan 16, 2014)

Updated at 6:30 AM EST on Friday, Jan 17, 2014

The chairman of the Port Authority and a top aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are among the next wave of people to be subpoenaed by legislative panels probing the growing George Washington Bridge scandal, according to NBC News.

The state Senate and Assembly both voted Thursday to create special committees to investigate how three lanes of the bridge were ordered closed for four days in September.

Christie Says GWB Scandal Has "Tested This Administration"

Gov. Chris Christie began his State of the State speech Tuesday by addressing the George Washington Bridge scandal. See what he said here. (Published Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014)

Among those subpoenaed by the Senate are David Samson, chairman of the Port Authority, and Regina Egea, Christie's incoming chief of staff, NBC News reported.

The Associated Press was reporting that Matt Mowers, Christie's former regional political director for his re-election campaign, was also subpoenaed.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who is leading the legislative investigation, said the new subpoenas from the Assembly will seek emails and text messages from 17 people and three organizations.

Wisniewski would not name any subpoena recipients until the documents were served, presumably by the end of the week. However, he has indicated that people whose names appeared in previously obtained emails and text messages are likely to receive subpoenas.

Documents that were released recently were the result of subpoenas to two Port Authority officials, both of whom have since resigned. They showed that a now-fired member of Christie's administration gave the go-ahead to shut down the traffic lanes, apparently as payback to a local mayor who did not endorse the governor.

"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," wrote the staffer, Bridget Anne Kelly.

The Republican governor and potential 2016 presidential candidate hasn't been implicated, but the scandal has dogged him.

He sought to move past it with his State of the State address this week, but acknowledged at the beginning of the speech that "mistakes were clearly made."

"And as a result, we let down the people we're entrusted to serve," he said.

Christie was on the Jersey Shore Thursday to visit a firehouse in an area devastated by Sandy. On Thursday, Christie also announced the hiring of a legal team to help his administration deal with the ongoing probes. The governor's legal team will be led by Randy Mastro, a former federal prosecutor and former deputy mayor to Rudy Giuliani.